How to Alter E-mail Account Settings on Your iPhone

You can change several settings for your e-mail accounts on your iPhone. You may never need to make adjustments to any of these settings, but better to know how if you need to:

To stop using an e-mail account: Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen, tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap the account name. Tap the Mail switch to turn off the account. Depending on the account, you might also turn off other settings. For example, in Gmail, you can turn off the Calendars and Notes settings but leave Mail turned on.

When you turn off an account, you don’t delete it. You only hide the account from view and stop it from sending or checking e-mail until you turn it on again.

To delete an e-mail account: Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen, tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap the account name. Scroll to the bottom and tap the red button that reads Delete Account. You’re given a chance to reconsider by tapping either Delete Account a second time or Cancel.

The last settings are reached the same way: On the Home screen, tap Settings→Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap the name of the account with which you want to work. Next, tap the Account Info button and then tap Advanced. The settings you see under Advanced and how they appear vary a little by account. This list describes some of the ones you see:

To specify how long until deleted messages are removed permanently from your iPhone: Tap Advanced and then tap Remove. Your choices are Never, After One Day, After One Week, and After One Month. Tap the choice you prefer.

Send signed and encrypted messages: In an account that has an Advanced setting, tap S/MIME to turn on the setting and then indicate whether a message must be signed or require a certificate, which might be issued by a systems administrator at your job. This setting is under Advanced for a reason.

To choose whether drafts, sent messages, and deleted messages are stored on your iPhone or on your mail server: Tap Advanced if this option is presented. Then, under the Mailbox Behaviors heading, choose various settings to determine whether you’re storing such messages on the iPhone or on the server. Your options vary according to your e-mail account.

If you choose to store any or all of them on the server, you can’t see them unless you have an Internet connection (Wi-Fi or cellular). If you choose to store them on your iPhone, they’re always available, even if you don’t have Internet access.

You probably should not change these next two items (assuming they are even presented) unless you know exactly what you’re doing and why. If you’re having problems with sending or receiving mail, start by contacting your ISP (Internet service provider), e-mail provider, or corporate IT person or department. Then change these settings only if they tell you to: